Conversations about eating well often fail to account for limited family food budgets – especially in a recession. That’s why Jason Hirsch, food editor for the Associated Press, presented this challenge to two chefs and a magazine editor: prepare a week’s worth of meals for a family of four, using the sum of $68.88.
That’s the national average a family of four receives every week under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the updated name for the food stamp program. More than 38 million Americans, or one in eight, now depend to some extent on food stamps.
We heard from AP food editor Jason Hirsch, and Philadelphian chef Jose Garces.